A Sick Cause
by number1brawlfan
Summary: When Gary comes home for a long overdue vacation, he finds himself the victim of a kidnapping scheme. Not only that, but the day he is abducted, Gary is bedridden with a bad fever. Better summary inside, but this sums it up pretty well. Currently on Hiatus.
1. Vacation

**Disclaimer: This is one of two Pokémon fanfics that I wanted to work on. I will be posting the first three chapters of both on here and whichever gets the most feedback after anywhere from one week to one month (depending on how much I get) will be the one I complete first. And I personally don't plan on making both stories any more than 15 chapters. I will post the second and third chapter tomorrow. This disclaimer is also on "I May Still Have a Use For You".**

 **This is my story "A Sick Cause". The title is a play on words really. Gary's sick and there's a cause that Giovanni has.**

 **Summary: Gary decides to go on a long needed vacation back to Pallet Town to visit his grandfather and sister. He fakes being sick getting out of going to a summer picnic and the following day he ends up actually being sick with a fever. All the while, Giovanni wants to start a war in Kanto (probably for power and a takeover) and he's interested in getting an intellect to support him. Prof. Oak is a suggested, but Giovanni denies stating that Oak would be to attached to the cause (the opposition). Instead the grandson of Oak is the preferred target. So Giovanni kidnaps Gary while he's still sick and tries to persuade Gary to join. This takes place During Hoenn, but before the Battle Frontier series and obviously the end since a reason for Gary to go to Sinnoh is mentioned towards the end.**

* * *

 **A Sick Cause**

 **Chapter 1: Vacation**

"Well, I'm off!" Gary declared, picking up the readily packed duffle bag.

"Don't have too much fun." Dora sarcastically replied with a smile. "Say hi to Professor Oak for me."

"I will."

Gary exited the lab, a long awaited vacation finally within reach. With his trusted Arcanine, Umbreon, Blastoise, and Dodrio on hand, he made his way to the docks, where Jared was patiently waiting on his boat.

"So, finally taking some time off are we?" Jared asked, after he got the boat sailing.

"Yeah." Gary replied. "We're currently caught up on our recent assignment load. It has been pretty stressful, so I thought I'd take a well-deserved break, see the family, attend a college job fair at my sister's college, and maybe have some fun with some Pokémon battling. You know, since I've been away from it for so long."

"Sounds fun and definitely well deserved."

"Definitely."

They continued to have some friendly banter to kill some time. Eventually they pulled into Vermilion's port. Gary departed from the boat and bid Jared a farewell as Jared took the boat out again. Throwing his duffle bag over his shoulder and started the hike to his beloved home in Pallet Town.

* * *

 **I know it's a short chapter, but it really just sets up Gary's start.**


	2. Welcome Home

**I forgot to mention in the previous chapter that I actually had to look up the names for the characters that appeared in the episode "Putting the Air Back in Aerodactyl". Also in this chapter I am using the name of Blue/Green's sister (Daisy) for Gary's because I figured that would make sense. Granted that's also the name of one of Misty's sisters in the anime, but it's not like her sister is going to be making an appearance in here.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Welcome Home**

The scenic greenery of Pallet Town greeted Gary as he traveled down the path leading to his home. A breeze brushed through the fields on this particularly pleasant summer day. It didn't take too long for Gary to get some attention as he was soon stopped by a voice calling out to him.

"Gary!?" A voice gasped in surprise.

Gary was taken off guard for a second, before he looked around to identify the person calling out to him. He was instantly welcomed by Ash, who caught up with him.

"Hey Ash." Gary greeted with a welcoming smile.

They started heading up to the door to Gary's house, when the door opened.

"Who's here?" Professor Oak asked, stepping outside to see what the happy commotion was all about. "Welcome back Gary. Hello Ash. Come on in, both of you."

-Inside the House-

Everyone was sitting in the living room, catching up.

"So what brings you out her Ash?" Gary questioned. "Aren't you travelling in the Hoenn region?"

"Yeah," Ash replied, "but I'm taking some time off. Apparently there's something called the Battle Frontier, so before I take it on, I'm getting some time to relax and maybe work in some training. Brock, May, and Max have been hanging out with me at my house for a while before we make that journey. How about you? What brings you back to Pallet Town?"

"Pretty much the same as you. Taking some time off after a stressful work load and getting some well-deserved rest and relaxation."

"He'll also be attending a college job fair at Saffron University in a few days." Professor Oak chimed in. "He gets to tell the students about the scientific side of the Pokémon world."

"Awesome." Ash stated.

"Hello! I'm home!" A woman's voice called out as the front door was opening. It was Daisy.

Daisy entered the living room to greet her family and friend. She gave Gary a welcome home hugs before Ash had to dismiss himself from the little scene.

"Maybe we'll hang out before you leave." Ash promised.

"I'm going to be here for a while, so I'll look forward to it." Gary confirmed.

"See you later."

"Goodbye."

Gary showed Ash out, waving goodbye before closing the door.

* * *

 **Here's another simple chapter. I don't want to rush (or at least feel like I'm rushing) into any of the action so we won't be seeing Giovanni for a few chapters. It's funny though, when I was writing this in the journal I'm keeping it I almost called Daisy Mist. Probably because my previous fanfic "Your Fate and Your Destiny" I did use Ike's sister Mist, so in my mind I probably subconsciously was thinking of her.**


	3. Fake Sick

**Here we have Gary being sick. And the best thing that I could come up with for this was the annual summer picnic.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Fake Sick**

"Oh Gary!" Daisy called, opening the door to her brother's room.

Gary groaned in annoyance, not liking the fact that he had been awakened. He throw his blanket over his head. He was feeling groggy and his throat felt dry.

"It's almost time for the annual Viridian picnic. Let's go."

"Sorry, I can't. I'm sick." Gary moaned, letting out a dry rough couching spell. "The Coughing has been keeping me up all night."

His sister let out a pout, but left due to the time. So, she told her brother to rest up and left with their grandfather. Gary watched them leave from his window and once they were a good distance from the house, he hopped out of bed like it was no problem. He was proud of his trickery, especially now that he was no longer involved in the obligation that was the Viridian picnic, to which he no longer enjoyed.

Gary went through the typical morning routine before running out of the house to enjoy his hometown. He scanned the town to see what if anything had changed since he left it long ago. He say a few Pidgey and decided to feed a few of them. Since it was a nice day Gary decided to let his Pokémon out to roam free for a while.

Once one o'clock came around, Gary was visited by an all but too surprising guest. Ash had accompanied the young scientist.

"I thought you'd be at the annual summer picnic at Viridian City." Ash stated.

"I got out of it." Gary stated. "I played the old sick card. I had my Dodrio hit me with a light sand-attack to pass off a convincing dry cough, before my sister came in my room."

Ash couldn't help but laugh.

"That is so like you."

"You know it. And what about you? You, yourself usually goes there."

"I wasn't in the mood to go, so let Max, May, Brock take my mom there."

Ash and Gary spent the next few hours hanging out. They filled each other in more on how the other was doing, what they've been up to, and what new kinds of Pokémon they've encountered on their journeys. They even decided to have a quick battle for fun, to see how well their team was. Pikachu took down Gary's Dodrio with ease, but Gary's Umbreon didn't have a challenge when it took down Ash's Corphish. They were about to have a tie breaker between Ash's Grovyle and Gary's Arcanine when the rain started to show up and it didn't just rain but pour.

"Oh man!" Ash whinned, withdrawing his Hoenn starter.

"It's okay." Gary assured, returning his canine to its respected Pokéball. "You did good, but we'll have to call it a tie for now. We'll settle this later, alright?"

"Okay."

Gary and Ash ran to a nearby Pokécenter to quickly heal their Pokémon. Once they were and Ash and Gary thanked Nurse Joy, the two rivals went their separate ways. Unfortunately for them the raining downpour turned into a full blown thunderstorm and they were forced run home.

While Gary was soaked to the bone by the time he got back to the house, he did make it home in one piece. But being drenched by the rain was the least of his problems. He was greeted an all but pleased sister and grandfather awaiting his return.

* * *

 **Here is the last of the first three chapters. If this story gets more feedback than "I May Still Have a Use for You" than I will continue this story first. Regardless of whether or not this one is the story to be completed first, know that the next chapter will have Giovanni in it.**

 **The thunderstorm has a reason for occurring. Also the chapters so far are getting progressively longer. And the thing with Dodrio was meant to be out of fun and I figured it would be an amusing way for Gary to fake being sick.**


	4. The War Cause

**I will have you know that after this near month of waiting I will be finishing I May Still Have a Use for You first. The two stories had the same amount of reviews/follows/favorites (3 to be exact) but I May Still Have a Use for You had more views. But I didn't want anyone following this story to feel like I abandoned it, so I decided to give you guys chapter 4 (and maybe chapter 5).**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: The War Cause**

The cluster of Team Rocket grunts were gathered in the auditorium, awaiting the presence of their leader. A meeting was called and they were prepared to receive their orders.

Giovanni approached the podium that stood in front of his mass of underlings, and was welcomed by spectacular applause.

"Greetings my fellow Team Rocket investors." Giovanni greeted. "I've called this meeting today to discuss our indefinite takeover of Kanto. I have looked at our current standings, and as of today, we are near our goal of starting an uprising, our war from within this region we call home." The grunts cheered. "However, we still need some resources and the total amount of Pokémon we've captured from every region is only at ninety percent. Although, at the rate that we're moving, we will reach our goal very soon."

The grunts' cheering grew even louder.

"We will take control of Kanto, no matter what. No one will be able to stand in our way. And with that said, this meeting is officially over. Now go my loyal subordinates, complete the missions that you have been assigned for the day."

Giovanni stood down from the podium, and as the grunts dispersed, he returned to his office. He was soon joined by Archer and Domino, ho followed him back to his office.

"You do realize there are a few other preparations that need to be made besides the ones you've mention, right?" Archer brought up. "We still need to find ourselves a well-educated and easy to manipulate Pokemon researcher. Unless you plan to throw all of that added word on to Dr. Namba."

"I am well aware, Archer." Giovanni replied, taking a seat at his desk. "I cannot rely on Dr. Nambe with that responsibility. I don't trust him that much. Plus, he has to corral Cassidy and Biff."

"Butch, sir."

"Whatever. I just haven't decided who to recruit. It's not like there are a lot of options at the moment."

"Well there's always Prof. Oak."

"No. Not him. He'd be too attached to the cause. The opposition's cause that is."

The room was silent for a moment to provide some time to think.

"Doesn't the professor have a grandson?" Domino chimed in. "I hear that he started following in the dear professor's footsteps and became a researcher."

Giovanni took Domino's words in, trying to remember Oak's pride and joy. It took a few moments before he remembered the proud brunette. The same brunette who challenged him all that time ago, when he had Mewtwo in his hand. However, the boy's name alluded Giovanni's mind.

"So the boy from Pallet is a researcher, is he?" Giovanni questioned.

"Yes. Gary Oak is his name. Cassidy and Mitch …"

"Butch." Archer corrected again.

"I don't care. Anyways, Cassidy and _Butch_ ran into the boy when they were trying to retrieve an Aerodactyl for Dr. Namba. He was the one to revive said Aerodactyl, and apparently he has a good team. So I think we could use him as not only a researcher but as a field agent as well."

Giovanni took a moment to reply.

"I like the way you think Domino." Giovanni admitted. "We could use someone as multitalented as him. Plus, he is young, so he would be easier to mold to our likeness, like you've mentioned Archer. He'll be stubborn, but we can work around that."

"We are in luck." Domino stated. "I just got word that the boy has returned to Pallet Town for a vacation. So swiping him will be convenient."

Giovanni nodded before dismissing his high ranking officers, in order to process the information he had just received. He still held onto the lingering memory of the boy's pride and confidence, two very useful traits for a Team Rocket member.

* * *

 **We finally got Giovanni in here and some conflict build up.**


	5. Actually Sick This Time

**With "I May Still Have a Use for You" now complete, I'm going to pick this story back up. I'm going to try and be more regular with updates, but be aware that I am writing another story as well, but I'll try to update as regularly as possible. With that being said here's an update. And yes, Gary is actually sick this time. The storm Gary got caught up in during chapter 3 is what caused it (though I didn't actually mention it in the chapter).**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Actually Sick This Time**

"Gary it's time to get up." Daisy stated, opening up Gary's door. "The job fair starts in an hour and a half and you need to start getting ready."

Gary was sitting in his bed, looking like a zombie, and not responding much. The minor bags under his eyes showed evidence of troubled sleep.

"Are you okay?"

"No," Gary finally spoke up, "I'm sick."

Daisy flinched in annoyance and disbelief as she approached her brother's bed.

"I am not playing his game again Gary. You promised to go to this job fair and that's exactly what you're doing."

"I'm not playing around Daisy."

Before Daisy could rip the blankets off of him, Gary picked up the waste basket next to the bed, and started throwing up into it. Daisy's expression changed from mild annoyance to concern, and she instead decided to help him. She first provided comfort as the vomit ran its course. When she felt his forehead she realized that Gary was burning up.

When he was finished throwing up, Daisy fetched Gary a few supplies. First she made sure to tell their grandfather that Gary was feeling unwell. She then fetched Gary a change of clothes that he weakly changed into and got back into bed. She then went to get Gary some water, a cup of ice, and a bowl of crackers in the event he thought he could stomach something light later. She placed all of the provisions on the night stand by his bed so that he wouldn't have to get up for anything, with the exception of a shower if he had the strength to take one.

Oak came up to check on Gary since he hadn't seen his grandson in person yet. Gary felt bad that he couldn't attend the job fair, but Oak let him know that it was okay and that he would go in his grandson's place. Gary was willing to accept that, still feeling a little guilty, and let Daisy and Oak leave so that they wouldn't be late. They let him know that they called Delia and that she would be checking on him at one, bringing him soup if he felt like he could stomach it.

With that being said, they left Gary to get some rest. The silence of the now locked house was peaceful, and Gary was finally able to drift off into sleep, allowing his body to regain the sleep it lost and to recover.

It was finally one o'clock, and Delia was making her way over to the Oak residence. She hoped that Gary was doing better. Taking out the spare key that Oak gave her, she quietly opened the door. The first thing she did was call out for Gary to let him know she was there. When she didn't get a reply, she assumed that he was probably asleep, so she set the soup in the kitchen and hiked up the stairs. She called Gary's name again, this time a little softer, as she opened the door.

What she witnessed next frightened her, causing her to bolt down the stairs and call the authorities. Gary's bedroom was empty with the boy nowhere in sight.

* * *

 **I hope Oak and Daisy didn't come out as irresponsible. I just knew that I planned for them to go, and they have left Gary home alone in the past (or at least the next chapter will mention that).**


	6. What Happened?

**Here's Chapter 6. One thing that I noticed that I forgot to add in the last chapter was that Daisy also brought Gary some medicine (not that it was used).**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: What Happened?**

Professor Oak and Daisy returned to the scene of the crime, confused at the sight. Several police officers were parked outside of the Oak residence, while Officer Jenny was finishing off her questioning of Delia, who was in tears.

"What's going on?" Oak asked.

"Gary's gone!" Delia screamed through her tears.

Daisy and Oak were shocked.

"What do you mean he's gone?" Oak gasped.

"He could barely stand without feeling nauseous." Daisy noted.

Officer Jenny explained what Delia had told her. How Delia went to check on Gary like she promised. How she thought Gary might have been asleep when he didn't respond to her calling his name, only to find out that Gary was nowhere to be found and his room looking like it had not been touched.

"Now I'll need both of your statements since you were both the last to see the boy." Officer Jenny stated.

"Where to begin?" Oak wondered. "I guess I should start by saying that we just got back from a job fair at Saffron U. Gary was originally going to go, but he got sick. With that out of the way I'll start with this morning. I started off by getting the kids' lunches ready for the day. Once done with that, I started making breakfast for everyone. That's when Daisy came downstairs and told me he was sick."

"Yeah," Daisy confirmed, "I had just finished getting myself ready for school and went to wake Gary up because he wasn't yet. He looked awful, but I was a little skeptical because he pulled a stunt he pulled yesterday, but when he started throwing up in the waste basket in his bedroom, I knew he was telling the truth. He has a fever, and could barely stand when he had to change his clothes, without feeling nauseous. I got him a few items: water, some ice, a few fever reducer pills, and a cup of crackers, something light in the event he wanted to eat."

"She had to get to school, and I decided to take his place since it was too late to call off his contribution."

"Have you ever left Gary alone before?" Jenny questioned.

"Yes," Oak replied, "several times in fact. The last time being when he faked being sick to get out of the annual Viridian City summer picnic, and that was yesterday. He is very responsible. He knows to keep the doors locked and to always have a key if he leaves the house. I know we left the house locked when we left, and Delia was the only one who could have possibly gotten in because she has a spare key herself. You've got to believe us."

"I do believe you." Jenny assured. "However, the fact remains that Gary is gone, and if he was too sick to do much of any moving, I can only assime that we're dealing with an abduction."

Gary woke up from his slumber, still feeling the warm, stiff fatigue of his fever. It took Gary a few minutes before truly registering where he was, or for that matter where he wasn't. He realized that he wasn't in his room, or even in Pallet Town for that matter. He was in a room of an unknown building, and he wasn't quite sure what city.

"So you're finally awake?" A voice observed.

Gary looked around, trying to find who was talking to him, before some motion in the corner caught his eye. The form was none other than Giovanni.

"Welcome to the Team Rocket headquarters, we've received your resume and have decided to accept your application. Welcome aboard."

* * *

 **I hope you guys enjoyed it. I know it's mostly explanatory, but some bases needed to be covered.**


	7. Temporary HiatusAuthor's Notification

**I'd like to apologize for such a late response. First off, I'd like to say that the reason I haven't updated lately was because I was working on a different story. And as much as I'd like this to be the next chapter, I have to apologize for it not. I've got a bit of writer's block with this story. So I wanted to get a personal message out there to everyone who's following this story stating that this story will be on a temporary hiatus. I will continue this story, I just need time to process how to write the rest of the story. I want this story to come out good for you guys rather than trying to rush (a mistake I made with I May Still Have a Use for You). So bear with me, I'll try to get stuff up as soon as I can, but I can't promise a specific timeframe.**


End file.
